Imperfections
by Lil Enchantress
Summary: [Oneshot] Ino has boy troubles so Sakura invites her to a stress relieving game of bowling. But why is Kiba there? More of a long drabble...bad summary.


A/N: Okay… this is a fanfic swap for LostsoulofRegret. She requested a Kiba/Ino, so here it is. I don't support Kiba/Ino… but I don't hate it either… so I guess I'm neutral with the whole thing. I tried really hard to make it semi-good, so I hope you like it! It's AU (Alternate Universe) in case you're wondering.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any size, shape, or form.

**Imperfections**

**Ino's POV (as if she is telling the story)**

Love is a fickle thing. I had thought about it only briefly before this 'incident' had happened, but now I find my self thinking of it all the time. Before this… it was merely a crush; a small love that lasted in the crushing of my heart. This boy though, he saved me from myself and other men all the same. I don't remember how I lived without his gentle touch or his soft kisses before I knew how I really felt towards him. It seems as if it was so long ago, but I remember it almost as if it were yesterday. The first time we kissed…

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**Third Person POV**

(A/n: from this point on it's sort of like a flashback, but it's the entire story, so I'm not going to italicize it. I don't want to strain yours eyes too much…)

Ino sighed as she impatiently blew at her bangs. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail to keep out of her face, but one stubborn piece just kept finding its place in front of her right eye. Giving up on the hopeless fight, Ino went back to her previous engagement. The canvas she was looking at was full of color and life, but she wasn't completely satisfied with it. Looking at it in a different angle, trying to see if it made it look any different, Ino shut her eyes in frustration. This was getting no where fast. She just couldn't figure out what it was missing.

Dabbing her paintbrush lightly in her pallet of colors, she paused. After thinking of a possible solution, she quickly picked the brush off the pallet and ran it smoothly across the colorful canvas making the colors cheer with more elegantly added arrays. A few more strokes later and Ino was still not sufficed. She just couldn't make up her mind what to do with it anymore. It was supposed to be her piece to enter into the latest school art function, but the way it was going now it didn't seem like it would be going anywhere soon.

Swirling her paintbrush in the cup of water on the desk next to her to rid of the paint, she packed up the rest of her paint tubes. Ino knew when you were thinking about art, you couldn't just try and do it. You had to be inspired. If you weren't inspired by anything in peculiar, even if it was the smallest thing, you couldn't make yourself like the piece.

With this in mind, she put away her art supplies and plopped down on her bed. It had to be one of the most inspirational places she had. Everything she thought up usually happened when she was lying in her bed, thinking about her dreams she might have had, or situations that happened throughout the day. It was the queen of inspiration, but as she lie there thinking, Ino found herself in another block. Her brain wasn't going anywhere. Well… it was, but there was this huge wall that was keeping her from getting any further. Ino rolled over and sighed when she realized her defeat. These thoughts just didn't want to be found today.

Ino stretched out, her hand landing on her phone that was sitting comfortably on her bed side table. Staring blankly at it for a moment, she wondered if she should call someone or just stay at home. Just then, a ringing sound filled the air, making Ino fall off her bed in surprise with a big thump. Blinking at the phone that was still in her hand, she noticed the caller I.D. was lit up in bright green letters. What a coincidence, Ino thought as she clicked the talk button quickly.

"_Hello, Ino?"_ a bubbly voice spoke into the receiver before she could talk.

"Yes, this is her," Ino replied, wondering if this was who she thought it was. Nine out of ten times it probably was.

"_Hey! How've you been? I haven't seen you around school lately, watcha' been doing?"_ the voice inquired, its bubbly ness getting more excited.

"Sakura," yes… it was exactly who she had thought it'd been, "I just saw you in school yesterday. I ate lunch with you," Ino replied again, a tone of laughter almost hinting in her voice.

"_Yeah, I know, but you didn't talk at all. It was like you were in this trance thing. Are you doing okay?"_ Sakura asked, Ino could almost see her twirling her hair in curiosity like she always did.

"I was just thinking of what I could do for my next school function project. That's all. No need to worry your pants off," Ino sighed. Sometimes Sakura was such a worry wart.

"_Are you doing another abstract painting? You know those things always look weird. Don't get me wrong, yours are beautiful… but I can never figure out which way is up." _

"That's the way they're _supposed_ to be, Sakura. They're supposed to make your imagination work. It's actually harder than just putting a picture together because it needs a certain essence of emotion put into it for people to feed off of. I'm just having a little trouble finding out how to put it into this one I'm working on now…" Ino could hear Sakura pause in awe. She was always so amazed by how Ino explained things so easily.

"_Well,"_ Sakura started talking real slowly, as if she were conjuring up some kind of plan, _"Me and Naruto were going to go bowling this afternoon, why don't you come with us and take a break from that? It may be just the cure for your lack of 'essence'."_

It was Ino's turn to pause and think. She hadn't been on best terms with Sakura lately. They'd gotten in a silly fight a while ago that didn't even seem significant anymore. She couldn't even remember what it was about anymore. Ino really did want to spend some more time with her best friend since they were getting along better now, but she'd been thinking about her project a lot. She hoped it didn't appear that she was brushing her off all the time. With that in thought, Ino answered quickly.

"Of course I'll come. It'll be a welcome break from this stressful project," Ino laughed, her arm finding its way behind her neck.

_"Alright! But tell me one thing; isn't painting supposed to de-stress you? Or is something else bothering you that you're not telling me. Is it me? Did I do something?"_ Sakura wondered guiltily. She was known to blame herself for everything and Ino began to feel guilty for putting her in a position to do so.

"No! Not at all! It's just…," Ino trailed off. She wasn't sure if she should say it or not. She wasn't the type of person to mope about things, and if she admitted what was wrong with her, she thought it might feel like she was moping.

"Are Shikamaru and Temari still going out?" Ino asked in a small whisper, her voice cracking when she tried to stop herself from choking. She could feel the tears burn in her eyes, but held them back persistently. There was no way she was going to let herself cry about this. She wasn't the kind of person that cried over useless things!

"_Aw… Ino, are you still worried about that?"_ Sakura comforted Ino, as if wrapping an arm around her through the phone. _"Why didn't you say anything? I thought you were over him before they even started going out."_

"I couldn't say I wasn't because I thought I might start crying," Ino hiccupped, still holding the tears inside her eyes. It was getting harder to see through the blurry wall they were creating. "It was in the middle of lunch and I didn't want to disturb anyone with my stupid blubbering."

"_It's not stupid, Ino! You have feelings, and you can't stop them. It's not a crime! Everyone would understand. Besides, it'd probably make them think you're more human. You _never_ cry, Ino! It's okay to express yourself when you're hurt."_

"Maybe," Ino breathed in deep, and then let out a calm sigh. All her feelings got sucked right back into place, right where they were supposed to be. "I just needed to say that, I feel a lot better now. Thanks, Sakura. It means a lot to me that I can talk to you again."

It was a white lie. Sure, she was glad she could talk to Sakura again. Ino was very glad she got the opportunity to do so, and she was even glad she could discuss her feelings about Shikamaru. But… she wasn't better. Sakura's point of view may have opened windows Ino didn't know were there, but it didn't heal the wound completely. She'd liked Shikamaru ever since they became friends in fifth grade, up till now when they were both in tenth. It seemed weird that they'd known each other for that long, but he chose the foreign exchange student, Temari, over her after he'd just met her this year. It wasn't fair. Just a few words of comfort weren't going to heal such a painful wound.

"_I'm glad I'm helping,"_ Sakura said in a matter-of-fact tone. Ino could hear the smile in her voice. _"It's always you helping me so I'm glad I get to be the doctor this time around."_

"So, Sakura, when are you guys planning on meeting? I guess I'm open most of the day, as long as I have time tonight or tomorrow to finish my painting."

"_Um… well Naruto and I were thinking in about an hour or so. Can you meet us up at Konoha Lanes _(a/n: The bowling alley. I'm so uncreative, so I just used my local bowling alley name, inserting Konoha instead of my own town….)_ around four, or will we have to car pool you?" _

"I can probably make it there myself. I only live about a block away, I'll probably walk," Ino told her, looking around for her wall clock. It read three eleven p.m. Plenty of time to change out of her paint covered lounge clothes into a cute bowling appropriate outfit in case there were any cute guys to get her mind off of you-know-who.

"_Okay, I'll see you there! Bye, Ino!" _

"Yes, maybe I'll slip and land on my butt like last time we went bowling," she joked, making Sakura go into a giggling fit. "I'll see you later, bye!"

Hearing Sakura hang up with a faint click, Ino pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed her own talk button. Closing her eyes in relief, Ino realized how much she was really looking forward to this outing. Maybe she really had been thinking about her painting too much. Getting up off her fluffy carpeted floor, Ino went to her walk in closet to find her outfit.

By three fifty-two, Ino was completely ready to jump out the door. She had just been staring at her clock for the longest time and she was glad she finally could just start walking down there. Grabbing her purple, soft leather, fall jacket and her purse, she headed out the door. As soon as she stepped out, it felt as if a huge blanket of cold air wrapped around her. The slight wind blew her already stubborn bangs in front of both her eyes, enough to make Ino think that this wouldn't be a pleasant walk.

Putting one foot in front of the other, she found it to be not as horrible as she listened to the crunching of gravel beneath her feet. Besides the wind's small whispers, it was a rather quiet day. It gave her plenty of time to think of the things she wasn't sure if she wanted to think about. Leaning her head back, Ino stared into the blue winter sky. There were clouds everywhere, but mostly scattered unlike the usual winter clouds that covered the entire sky. It was uncommon, and Ino liked to see the cloud's unusual behavior. They had such an unpatterned life.

She didn't always admire the clouds though. Shikamaru was the one that had always been obsessed with the clouds. He'd always mention to her how carefree they were and how they didn't have to go through as troublesome situations as humans did. Ino thought he was insane for a while, until she found out what Shikamaru got on his advanced I.Q. test; over two hundred. It seemed that she was best friends with a miniature genius. Beside the point though, it was him that always searched the clouds, wishing he could be one, and that was how she got addicted to it. It wasn't so much because he did it, but because it was soothing. It was the only thing besides her abstract painting that kept her sane in life anymore.

Setting her head back towards the road, Ino found that she was already at the entrance to the Konoha Lanes. Time must pass by quicker when you don't notice you've fallen into the sky like that. (a/n: Perhaps it's a lame pun… but I suppose I might need to put a small disclaimer saying I don't own the song 'A Thousand Miles' just to be safe…) Opening the heavy door with an eager hand, Ino walked in to meet her friends. Inside though, she didn't see just Sakura and Naruto. Standing there as if he were completely innocent was Kiba Inuzuka. How could she? Sakura said this was just to relieve some of her project stress. How was _he_ going to help that?

Sakura spotted Ino first, giving a wave and nudging Naruto to tell him that she was there. Naruto's bored expression quickly changed to excitement as he realized they could finally get on with their game now. Was she really all that late though? Maybe a minute or so, but not enough to get anyone mad at her surely? Wrong. Kiba was looking at her with a sneer that could give nightmares. He was such a snit, always picking on Ino because he felt like it. She never knew anymore why he was mad at her.

"What took ya so long, Barbie?" Kiba scoffed at her, crossing his arms. "Did your pampering take too long for ya?"

"Back off pea brain, I'm not late," Ino shot back, not even looking at him. Ignoring would be the best way to get rid of him. She hoped.

"Oh yeah? Then why did we have to wait? Care to explain that princess?" Kiba leaned forward so he was more in her face. He only enjoyed making fun of her if he could witness her being mad. If she kept dodging his face like that, she was taking all the fun out of it.

Sakura slapped him in the back of the head… hard. You could see her temple popping out of her wide forehead, making her look like a monster that you didn't want to mess with. For Kiba though, they were afraid that it was a little too late.

"Shut up Kiba, I'm not dealing with this today!" Sakura shouted at him, holding his ear close to her mouth so he'd go deaf. "We came here to have fun, not torture each other!" Letting go of his ear, she glanced back at Ino who was giving her a thankful smile. Though she could have dealt with it, Sakura's way went much quicker than she could have dreamed for.

As the boys walked ahead (Kiba stomping in embarrassment because he just got yelled at by a girl), Sakura stayed back to talk to Ino. "I'm sorry, Ino really, I am! It's just that Kiba is Naruto's best friend, and they hadn't been hanging out for a while and he thought it was the perfect opportunity for them to get together again. I couldn't say no because Naruto started begging. You know how it is when he begs."

Yes, Ino knew. He'd beg with the puppy face, on his knees for emphasis. Most of the times, they just thought he looked so pathetic that they couldn't let him degrade himself any longer. That still didn't make the fact that Kiba was here any better though. Ino swore that he was out to get her. If only she knew…

Suddenly, Sakura was dragging her off towards the two boys. She was muttering something about not wanting to lose them. Ino gave in, and let Sakura lead her to their alley. Naruto was putting the names in already and Ino could see her name being typed in last. It was right next to Kiba's, and their names were linked. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse… they were playing on teams and Mr. Bully was her partner. How much luckier could she get?

"Sakura… isn't Kiba that stupid boy that snuck his puppy into the school that one year?" Ino pulled lightly away from Sakura's grasp, rubbing her wrist. Sakura had gotten stronger lately because of her immense physical training. She was on this program to tone muscles and look great, but in Ino's opinion, it was just a gym to get big muscles. Don't tell Sakura that though, she'd kill you.

"Oh, yeah he is. I heard it was some kind of dare or something. He got away with it too because the teachers never searched his locker of book bag for his dog after people admitted they saw it. I wish I could get away with stuff like that," Sakura sighed, walking down the steps and into their alley. She sat down and took her shoes off, giving Naruto her shoe size so he could get her pair for her.

Ino found this all unfair. First, Sakura _could_ get away with it because she's so smart, the teacher's secretly let things slip for her all the time. Ino guessed that they just didn't tell her. Looking back at Sakura, Ino gasped, a hand coming to her mouth.

"Sakura! Your hair! Oh my god, you cut it! I can't believe I didn't notice before now… why'd you do it?" Ino was astonished beyond belief. Sakura used to have hair just an inch or so shorter than her own butt length hair (though you can't tell so much because it's always in a ponytail). They'd both sworn off cutting their hair when they were fighting over this guy way back in first grade. He liked long hair, so they both grew it out to make him like them. Coincidently though, he moved to Soundeville just a few years back, leaving both their hopes of ever getting together with him vanish into thin air. Sakura and Ino still had an unspoken agreement; leave the hair long. It seemed crazy now that Ino thought about it, but she still couldn't believe that Sakura had cut her beautiful pink hair to a mere chin length.

"Oh," Sakura mentioned nonchalantly, one of her hands drifting up to feel her shortened pink locks. "I thought it was time for a change. I mean, I only grew it out for Sasuke. Now that he's been gone for a while, and it doesn't look like he's coming back, I don't think it's worth it to keep my hair the way he might like it. Besides… shorter hair is easier to take care of in the morning."

"Yeah, I guess…," Ino agreed. It was just hard to grasp. How could you cut your hair after waiting so long for it to grow out? But that didn't matter. It was Sakura's decision, not hers. "He _did_ move away in fifth grade. The same year me, Chouji, and Shikamaru met…"

That had to be the worst direction the conversation could have gone. Ino could tell that Sakura had gone tense, waiting for her to get upset or something. It was a mistake Ino wouldn't have made usually, but she was irregularly off guard. This was the perfect opportunity to change the subject…

"You know what? I'm ready for this bowling match!" Ino smiled real huge, making Sakura almost jump from surprise. She was sure that Ino was going to slide into another depression with the mention of Shikamaru. However, she did not, and she was now sitting down into the seat beside herself and taking her own shoes off. Before Naruto got too far up the stairs to get the shoes, Ino shouted her size to him (she wouldn't be embarrassed to because she's actually got small feet). Neither Kiba, nor Sakura noticed the tiny glint of sparkle in her eyes as she took her jacket off, or when the dam for her tears almost broke. But just almost. What Kiba did notice however, was the light purple, layered shirt she was wearing underneath her prim jacket.

"Ino, you don't look good in that color," Kiba declared, still looking at her shirt with a slight distaste. Ino opened her mouth to tell him that he didn't look good in anything, but he cut her off before she could even start. "Maybe you should try more colors like oranges and blues. They would compliment your eyes better."

Ino choked. Was he making fun of her, or was he actually being nice? Her cheeks heated up and she knew they had to look a shade of red by now. What was with her today? Kiba was weird; he probably meant nothing by a stupid comment like that. It was hardly anything to get worked up over. Besides, he was just making fun of her a minute ago; there was no way she was forgiving him that quickly.

"Whatever," Ino mumbled as Naruto came back with the shoes, distributing them to their borrowed owners.

Naruto went up first, and he was surprisingly good. Though he only got a six out of ten on his first try, he picked off three more on his second turn. When Sakura went up, it wasn't surprising how good she was. All that toning had made her pretty strong (and though Ino had said before that she didn't like it, it was obvious that she was envious now). With the first try, Sakura had swept out all ten of the pins with one blast of her ball. Kiba, though not as well a player as Sakura, he was better than Naruto. He managed a strike with the last pin rocking back and forth till it finally fell to its doom. However, once Ino's turn approached, she still had full confidence. There was no way she was losing a game against her billboard brow friend (a/n: notice how she gives it almost as a pet name now, rather than making fun of her) and her stupid companion.

Picking her ball up smoothly, and placing her fingers into the three round holes as she always did, Ino took a few steps and let the ball go rushing down the lane. It may not have been as fast as Sakura's was, but it was carefully aimed. But to Ino's dismay, the ball only knocked down eight of the pins, leaving seven and ten as the only remaining ones. Only her luck could have brought her the fortune of the demonic duo in front of her now. How the heck was she supposed to pick off two pins that were completely opposite of each other?

Brushing off the frustration with a deep calm breath, Ino picked up her ball and put as much force into her carefully focused aim, letting the ball fly out of her hands once again. Closing her eyes for a brief half-second, she opened them to the sight of pin number ten flying across her lane and skillfully taking out pin number seven. It was a tricky strategy, and foolish because novice bowlers trying that would end up in losing both pins instead, but it was just a trick where to hit the pin in the exact spot to make it fly off to the side. Ino must have just gained her luck back because as many times as she'd tried it before, it had never worked. Turning back to her friends, and Kiba, she walked back to retrieve her seat.

"Hey, good job Blondie!" Kiba congratulated her, and catching her hand in a high five. Ino rolled her eyes and wiped her hand off on her jeans (noticeably so Kiba would see she did it). Kiba grumbled something under his breath, imitating Ino's voice in a high squeaky pitch, "'Thanks Kiba, I'll try keep up the good work.' Is that all too much to ask?"

Ino heard him, but chose to ignore the comment as the kind of rational person she was. It was useless to fight with him about something stupid like manners. She knew she was being rude, especially after he gave her those color fashion tips, but he was still calling her names. That was definitely not winning her over. Maybe if they both just shut up they could win this bowling match. That would be a miracle since they were facing Sakura. But on the other hand… she was on Naruto's team, and he had to slow down her strength just a little bit. So they still had at least a little chance to win.

After a few more rounds, everyone seemed to stay equal. Sakura was the only one to get turkey twice (a/n: in case you're confused; turkey - term for three strikes in a row for the game of bowling.), but Kiba and Ino were keeping up to pace. They were six points ahead right now, but they knew it wouldn't be wise to get cocky right yet. It was Ino's turn up, and Kiba hadn't spoken to her since her rude gesture toward a friendly high five. Even she was wondering if it was completely nice of her now, but she didn't have time to think about it if she was going to get this strike she'd been hoping for.

Wiping her nervous fingers off on her pants, she picked her ball up and slipped her fingers into the holes. Her abstract painting flashed across her mind briefly, reminding herself what the real reason she was here for; to relax. It figured that only another frustrating situation could get her mind off the other. Ino sighed, but walked up to her lane, ready as ever to get this game over with and win while doing so. Pulling her arm back slowly, and calculating with her eyes where the ball should coast, she motioned her arm forward quickly again. It was then that she heard someone giggling. It was the one thing she wasn't expecting to come up against while she was trying to 'relax'. Temari and Shikamaru were on a date… in the lane right next to theirs!

"Oh, Shikamaru, you got another strike!" Ino could almost hear Temari wrapping her arms around Shikamaru while congratulating him. She almost forgot that she was in the middle of her own bowling game. Correction… she _did_ forget she was in the middle of her own bowling game. The ball she'd just let go of had just been sent flying across her own lane into Shikamaru's. Well… it wasn't his turn anymore, it was Temari's, but she managed to get Temari a gutter ball for her first turn. That was going to win them over real swell. Ino hadn't completely realized what she'd done until both of them looked from Ino, to their lane, and back to Ino. Her now empty hands found their way to her open mouth, and her eyes widened with fear.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean anything, I - it slipped, and," Ino stuttered, waving her hands in different directions, trying to explain what happened. Her heart was beating uncontrollably, and she was afraid it was ready to hop out of her chest. How was she supposed to deal with this? She wasn't ready to see them so soon after bringing the subject up with Sakura. It was too fresh. The pain had only just lightened with this bowling game. What was she going to do?

"Hey, Ino!" Shikamaru was the first one to speak, waving at her. "It's been awhile. How come I haven't seen you around lately? You're being too troublesome."

"Uh," Ino swallowed the pain with a gulp. It worsened. "I'm sorry…I can pay for a new game if…" There didn't seem to be anything else she could say.

"Shikamaru," Temari was speaking now, looking down their lane to where Ino had gotten her a gutter ball, then up to Shikamaru's face. "I don't think we'll be needing a new game. I was winning anyway. This'll just give you a chance to catch up."

"What are you talking about, catch up? I'm right behind you. Or did you not notice that turkey I just got?" Shikamaru teased Temari with a pout. It appeared that they forgot they were talking to Ino, much to her dismay. She stood there standing in a trance as they whispered sweet things back and forth. (a/n: Actually… Ino just zoned out. Shikamaru and Temari are probably just having one of their little fights that they like so much. This is more or so portrayed as to how Ino sees it.)

Ino could have sworn her heart had stopped, but thought too soon as a large hand planted itself on her shoulder. Her knees buckled, but at the same time, her heart did a double beat of fear. Turning quickly, her hair whipping to the side as Ino found herself looking at Kiba with slight relief on her face. She sighed, waiting for the comment she knew he was about to give her to come. But it didn't come. Instead, Kiba handed her her bowling ball, a hint of pity in his eyes.

"Why don't you try again, Ino?" he muttered, walking back to his seat with a look of mixed emotions. Ino blinked before looking at the ball in her hands. Had he just called her Ino? That was the first time since… a long time. From back where Sakura and Naruto were sitting, she heard Sakura give an encouraging cheer. Sakura knew what was bothering her. It'd been awhile since she had a friend she could talk to about things like this. It was nice to know she wasn't alone this time.

Ino got ready, just like the other times. Breathing in and breathing out. So far, nothing that happened here today was an inspiration for her abstract. She should have figured so in the first place, but it couldn't be helped. What mattered now was her current situation. Ino felt almost relieved and ready to make a good game out of everything when she caught a glimpse of Shikamaru and Temari in the corner of her eye. Kissing. Her arm twitched just slightly and let go of the ball, setting it off course and into the gutter almost exactly like she did for Temari's. Giving up on her calm in the blink of an eye, Ino raised her arms in frustration. Emotions seemed to be getting the better of her anger these past few days.

"Argh! I'm no good at this!" Ino started freaking, and the hair tie that was keeping her hair up snapped, her hair flowing down in long locks of shining blonde. "I give up, I can't do it anymore! I don't care if I don't win. I want to go home! I just want to-" Ino stopped when a pair of arms wrapped around her own arms, pulling them back down beside her waist. She turned again to see the same concerned face as last time. Kiba had a sad expression as she stared blankly at him. Almost as if he could see something she couldn't. It wasn't until he'd brushed the tears away with his thumb that Ino realized that she had started crying. She'd been so upset about Shikamaru that she'd let go of her emotions. Her sanity had been riding along on a thin wire, about to break when Kiba made her realize just how to hold on to it. Glancing at Shikamaru and Temari one last time, Ino brought her gaze back to Kiba for a rest. Looking into his eyes, they seemed to say 'forget about them.'

"Hey, Ino…," he began, brushing some of the lone tears that ran down her face away. "You look pathetic, would you like me to help show you how to bowl again?"

She pouted, crossing her arms in a childish manner. Was he hitting on her? Or was he just being a snot again? Sometimes it was hard to tell, with it being him and all. "Hmph. Help if you want, but I don't think it'll do anything."

He grinned, but got her ball anyway. Handing it to her, he positioned his arms so he was controlling her like a puppet. His chin was over her right shoulder as he whispered tips on where to hold the ball and different ways to let go of it. Despite the urge to punch Kiba, Ino couldn't help but feel like there were butterflies in her stomach. It was different than the way she felt towards Shikamaru, or even Sasuke. Maybe it was the uneasiness of just being this close to a boy. Or maybe it was nervousness that Shikamaru might look over and see them like this, but Ino felt something. She felt like she was on top of the world. This time, when her cheeks flushed a vibrant shade of red, Ino didn't mind so much as Kiba laughed softly in her ear. Kiba pulled her arm that held the ball back gently and told her when to release. The ball soared off of her fingertips and rolled straight towards the pins. They were rewarded in their team effort by the sound of all ten pins crashing against each other in victory.

"Yeah! Alright!" Ino's eyes lit up with unexpected happiness. Jumping up and down, her hair floated around her in a golden-white mess. Twirling around to thank Kiba for his help and understanding, her foot stepped on a slick spot on the floor. Clutching a part of Kiba's T-shirt, Ino collapsed into Kiba's arms, pushing them both to the bowling alley's floor. Stunned, they lay there for a moment, collecting their thoughts as Kiba rubbed the spot on his head that he landed on. Ino reached forward and touched it lightly with her fingertips.

"I'm – oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Ino's hair fell around them like a curtain. Positioning herself to be hovering right over him, she started to get up. "I just haven't learned how to stop being clumsy yet. Please forgive m-" her words were muffled by Kiba's lips pressing against her own. She kissed back slightly before he pulled back and brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Her feelings were brimming over the edge. What exactly was it that made her feel this way? To feel so… complete. And why hadn't she noticed it before now when she was around Kiba so many times before? She was about to ask that very thing when she heard a loud hoot from the direction of Sakura and Naruto who Ino only just now remembered were there.

"Hey, you guys gonna get up soon, or are you getting ready to do something?" Naruto shouted across where he sat to where they still lay in an awkward position on the wooden floor. "I'd find a room first, 'cause you know… there're kids in the bowling alley right now. Not safe for the eyes."

Ino's blush-o-meter hit the top, creating a lovely scarlet scene on her face. She did her best to stand up quickly, avoiding any slippery spots on the floor this time. Kiba followed suit, and led them both back to their seats. Ino couldn't believe she'd kissed Kiba, of all people, in the middle of a bowling alley. And in such an embarrassing position too… There was no way Naruto was going to let her live this down. And as for Sakura, Ino had no idea what she would think of it. But the worst part of it all; Ino didn't seem to care. She actually _liked_ these feelings Kiba was making her feel. They were so different than what she was used to, and her stomach was turning knots. Sasuke never made her feel this way, and not even Shikamaru could compare to these feelings. Kiba was being so nice to her. Well… in his own little way anyway.

Ino glanced over to Sakura who was giving her a soft smirk. Being her best friend, even if they hadn't been talking only a few weeks back, Sakura could tell when Ino liked something or not. There was a mutual understanding between the two as Naruto went up for his turn of bowling. Sakura patted her on the back as Kiba turned to look at Ino and found her already staring at him. She blushed again, but looked away quickly in more embarrassment. Sakura starting laughing and you could hear a cheer in the background of Naruto getting his first strike. Shikamaru and Temari were forgotten in the moment of it all…

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**Ino's POV**

So maybe it wasn't the most romantic first kiss ever, but it was the most eye opening experience I ever had. I never knew there was someone I could love more than my other two crushes… but that's just what they were, crushes. With Kiba, it was different. Love is a much more wonderful experience than any heart wrenching crush could ever be. So after our bowling match (in which Sakura was the only one to get a perfect three hundred score), Kiba and I decided we were officially going out. We went on a date the next day, and I invited him and his puppy, Akamaru, over to my house afterwards. It was my mistake that I'd left my paints out on the floor, and Akamaru walked all over them. But what almost gave me a heart attack was that he'd knocked over my abstract painting and had walked his colorful paws all over it. But as it turns out, that was the missing element I'd been missing. By Monday, I entered it into the school competition, and you better believe I got first place. Without Kiba, I never would have allowed Akamaru into my room, and then my painting never would have been perfect. It just goes to prove that love does amazing things. I'm just glad I finally found it.

A/N: Okay… I'm done! I'm sorry it took so long Alishia! Seriously though, there aren't many amv's, fanfictions, or fanart I could use for inspiration. I'm sorry if it didn't turn out the way you'd hope for… it's exactly how I imagined it, but I don't really like the way it turned out. And sorry if it's too long… for some reason the story kept adding to itself when I wasn't looking. –shifty eyes- I really like how it started, but the ending kind of flopped. Or maybe it was the middle… But either way, I hope you appreciate it! I'm glad I'm finally finished with it though. Now I can finally get on with the rest of my pathetic stories. : ) Good luck with your stories Alishia.

Lil Enchantress  
Mimi  
Please review! I worked so hard… (And please excuse all the mistakes I'm sure are there. I don't have a lovely beta like some of those great authors out there)


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